Brussels, 23/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - Since it joined the EU in 2004, Poland has successfully decoupled economic growth and environmental pressures but there is still a lot to be done. According to a report published by the OECD on Thursday 23 April, more effort is required in developing cleaner transport, so that the country, which is highly dependent on coal, can make its transition to a lower carbon emissions economy and transform its strong economic growth into green growth.
This report on the Environmental Performance Review of Poland notes that between 2000-2012, greenhouse gas emissions from the country only increased by 1%, although its GDP grew by 56%. Poland has gone further than the targets it was set within the terms of the Kyoto Protocol.
This country has significantly increased its use of biomass, despite the fact that fossil fuels still account for 91% of its energy mix (the EU average is 73%). Poland is the fourth most carbon intensive economy in the OECD and is still the biggest producer and consumer of coal among EU member states, according to the report. In 2012, CO2 emissions stood at 0.42-t/GDP unit in 2012, although the OECD average was 0.31 t. The report also points out that in 2012, Poland had the highest level of fine particles in its air compared to other European countries.
The OECD is recommending that Poland invest in clean energies and transport and rethinks energy taxation and subsidies to the sector, in an effort to facilitate the transition to an economy that is less dependent on fossil fuels; that it adopts measures to reduce environmental damage; that it sets the tax on diesel at the same level as it is on petrol and that it gets rid of tax exemptions for coal. (Aminata Niang)